Human Health as a Constitutional Value in Priority Areas of the State Policy

The health and well-being of the population are two core values that underpin the Russian state policy. With digitizing healthcare, a growing interest has been witnessed in the constitutional value of health, as well as the right to healthcare and medical assistance. This focus is essential for the development of the Russian healthcare legislation and state policy strategies. Here, the normative content of the right to healthcare was explored from historical and current perspectives. The study used both standard (analysis and synthesis) and some specific (historical, statistical, logical and comparative legal) methods. The analysis was based on the constitutional provisions of the Soviet era and the Constitution of 1993; the laws and regulations of the federal Russia that concern healthcare and define the priority areas of the Russian state policy; and the legal interpretations from the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and general jurisdiction courts. Particular attention was given to the role of health in different areas of life, such as the economy, society, environment, science, and technology. The retrospective research on the constitutional regulation of the social value of health during the Soviet era was performed. The normative content of this value and its components in the current Russian legislation was identified. Guarantees for the right to healthcare and medical assistance in the priority areas of the Russian state policy were considered. Recommendations to improve these established guarantees were designed.